Isle of Wight nets state housing award

County wins award for Booker T. Estates rehabilitation project

ISLE OF WIGHT – Tammy Payne remembers when Booker T. Estates had dirt roads and she could cut through the woods to get to her grandmother's house on Carver Drive.

Now the woods are gone – nine new houses have sprouted up in the once-blighted neighborhood over the past five years. Dilapidated houses were demolished or spruced up, streets are freshly paved and residents are connected to county water and sewer services.

The improvements are all part of a $5.8 million rehabilitation and revitalization project for the community off Brewer's Neck Boulevard. After a decade living in Florida, Payne, now 43, and her family returned to Booker T. Estates and moved into her grandmother's house last year.

The project, which was completed last year, is winning state accolades. On Thursday, the county will receive an award for best housing preservation/revitalization effort at the Governor's Housing Conference. The award category is presented for a housing activity that preserves existing houses or uses housing as a critical part of a broad revitalization effort, according to county spokesman Don Robertson.

About $3 million of the cost was funded through federal and state community development grants and loan programs, including a $1 million contribution from the county. The rest came from private sources.

The rehabilitation has made a dramatic change in the neighborhood, Payne said.

"It's rejuvenated a community where mostly older people lived; now there are children here again," she said. "It's like the neighborhood where I grew up is being recycled for our children."

Two years ago, Matt and Deanna Vanderwarker came from Hampton and built their first house in the Booker T. Estates neighborhood.

"We love it," Deanna Vanderwarker said. "The land was a lot more affordable here and we have space."